Friday, March 28, 2014

Swerve Blu-Ray Review

Reviewed by Allie Schembra

While driving cross-country to a job interview, Colin (David Lyons TV’s Revolution, Eat Pray Love) witnesses a two-car crash that leaves on driver decapitated. The good-hearted Colin pulls a beautiful and mysterious young woman, Jina (Emma Booth, Parker, The Boys Are Back), from the wreckage, along with a suitcase full of money. But soon, he becomes entangled with a crooked local cop (Jason Clarke, Zero Dark Thirty, The Great Gatsby) – who happens to be the very jealous husband of Jina – as well as a murderous thug (Travis McMahon, Cactus) who is after the cash. The suspense and action build in this gripping thriller set in the breathtaking but unforgiving Australian outback.

Film (2 out of 5 stars)

In the dust-filled Australian outback, Colin, a man with a bit of car trouble is trying to make it to town in order to get his car fixed. He comes across an accident and after assisting the woman in one of the cars, goes to the other to check in the driver. In that car, he finds the driver, without a head, and next to the car he finds a briefcase full of money. He takes the briefcase and offers the woman a ride home. After leaving her at home, Colin goes to the local police department where he tells the officer, Frank, what happened and gives him the briefcase. What Colin doesn’t know is that there is another man looking for the briefcase, too, and he will do anything to find it.

Since there is nowhere in town for Colin to stay, Frank offers him a room at his house for the night. When they arrive, Colin realizes the woman he helped is Jina, Frank’s wife. After dinner, Frank goes to the garage to look at Jina’s car and discovers a suitcase in the trunk. He believes Jina was trying to leave him and starts to think Colin and Jina are having an affair. In the morning, after dropping Jina and Colin off at the car dealership and shop where she works, Frank returns to the accident scene, where he finds the tow truck driver working on the car, dead. It seems the other man, posing as an insurance adjustor has been there. The man goes to the police station and breaks into the cell where Frank has locked up the money, only to discover the money is missing. He waits and follows Frank home, where he knocks Frank out and searches the house. He leaves, just as Colin and Jina pull up. Jina goes into the house and finds Frank unconscious.

After shaking him awake, Frank attacks Jina and beings strangling her. Colin hears the commotion and saves her. As Frank and Colin are fighting, Jina hits Frank and kills him. Jina and Colin decide to dump the body in an old mine shaft and, after finding the money in Frank’s car, leave together. However, Colin realizes he can’t leave because his wallet and keys are missing. He thinks they fell out and at at the bottom of the mine shaft. Colin and Jina return and Colin goes into the shaft. After the rope breaks, Colin discovers Frank’s body is missing. Frank is now after Colin and Jina, as they try to make it to the train station. They get on the train and is seems they will escape and after a final showdown, Colin returns to the town and has a drink at the bar in town.

Swerve was all over the place. I’m not sure exactly what I was watching. The story line with the random bad guy looking for the money was completely unnecessary and didn’t improve the film. It took a good hour of going “who is that guy?” for me to realize that David Lyons plays Sebastian Monroe on Revolution. I actually liked his character and thought he did a good job in the movie. There was also some really weird marching band competition in the film that had no point as added absolutely nothing. I didn’t like Sweve as much as I thought I was and was really disappointed.

Video (3 out of 5 stars)

Swerve is presented in 1080p transfer in 2.35:1 and was good. Mauvh of the film is outside in the Australian outback and the picture was clear and sharp. Colors were bright and bold and blended well. Skin tones were natural and in the one scene with the swimming pool, the blue of the water went well with the black if the evening.

Audio (3 out of 5 stars)

Offered in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio or English 5.1 Dolby Digital with English SDH subtitles, the audio in Swerve is good. Nothing was too loud or too soft and I thought the background sounds were clear as well. The music from the random marching bands was good, even though the song played got stuck in my head.

Extras (1 1/2 out of 5)

In keeping with the disappointment in this film, there was only one actual special feature and the theatrical trailer.

Behind the Scenes – individual interviews with Jason Clarke (Frank), Travis McMahon (Charlie) Robert Mammone (Logan), Sean Lahiff (Editor) about how they became involved in the film, their characters or job, the story and filming in South Australia. This would have been much more interesting if it had been one feature instead of four different ones.

Theatrical Trailer – The theatrical trailer for Swerve. It really made me want to see the movie. I guess it did its job.

Summary (2 out of 5 stars)

This movie is forgettable. Not even 24 hours after I watched it, I actually have to turn it on again and scan through scenes just to remember what happened so I could write this review. It was all over the place, there were unnecessary characters and definitely an unnecessary marching band contest that seemed so out of place. Sometimes, with a movie I don’t really care for, I can watch it again and it grows on me. I don’t see that happening with Swerve.